


qmi | scary dreams

by plincess_cho (ai_hao)



Series: The N Parallel Universes of QMi [2]
Category: Super Junior
Genre: Author: Ai, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-07
Updated: 2015-03-07
Packaged: 2018-03-16 17:15:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3496388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ai_hao/pseuds/plincess_cho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kyuhyun has a scary dream.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Kyuhyun

Kyuhyun doesn't want to admit to Zhou Mi that he's been having nightmares about his car accident from 2006. He doesn't want to admit that he wakes up terrified in a cold sweat and can't fall back asleep until he's gotten a drink of water, prayed for 20 minutes, and called his mom on the phone.

(His beloved mother assures him that she doesn't mind him waking her up at four in the morning as long as she knows her baby is safe. Even just hearing the sound of her voice makes him feel better, but it's happened that he worries his mother isn’t getting the sleep she needs.)

  
No, he most certainly doesn't want to admit that he's terrified of getting into a car again, even though he pretends that he's fine.

  
(Even though Zhou Mi sees whenever Kyuhyun's hands cling to the seat every time the manager turns a corner. He tries to hold onto Kyuhyun, if even just for an instant.)

  
Nor does he want to admit that he can't sleep alone anymore. He falls asleep in the common area on purpose, hoping someone will crash with him. He tries to strategically place his sleepy self in the presence of another member, but what he really wants to do is go home. But staying at home means more car trips and that just won't work.

  
(The minute he found out about the Ladies Code members passing away in their tragic car accident earlier that year, he immediately packed up his things and left for the subway. He texted his manager to cancel his schedules for the day and this time, no one asked why. He showed up at his parents' place by the Women's University in the city and immediately burst into tears the minute he saw their faces. His mom and dad held him close and let him cry before wrapping him in a bundle of blankets and sitting him on the couch. They all cried together and video chatted with Ahra in Austria, who cried along with them.

  
"It wasn't you, it wasn't you," his father repeated over and over.

"No, but it was someone else's member," Kyuhyun replied right before a fresh set of sobs welled up in his throat.)

  
Everyone knows about the nightmares except for Zhou Mi (and Yesung and Kibum, but somehow Han Geng knows and texts his "xiao 13" every so often to check in). They're on the plane to China and Kyuhyun wills himself to stay awake. He can't cause a scene here, not in public. Zhou Mi notices but doesn't comment. He's learned better than to attempt to pry information out of his friend.

  
They're rooming together just like they always do in China. Kyuhyun is grateful to have an automatic roommate and assumes that Zhou Mi's sheer presence will magically ward off the nightmares. (He hopes so anyways because he can't call his mother from China.) He falls asleep faster than he has been lately and starts having dreams about rabbits.

  
*

  
"Kuixian! Kuixian! Wake up! You're okay, just wake up!" Zhou Mi's voice enters his dreams.

  
Kyuhyun hears someone screaming. Thirty seconds later, he realizes the screams are coming from his own mouth.

  
"Please wake up, Kuixian!" Zhou Mi begs. He's shaking Kyuhyun awake and trying to get him to open his eyes. Kyuhyun does, and somehow finds the mental control to stop screaming bloody murder. He stares at Zhou Mi who has the decency not to look absolutely terrified.

  
"Are... are you awake?" Zhou Mi ventures.

  
"I think so," Kyuhyun replies in a whisper. "Where am I?"

  
"You're in our hotel room in Shanghai, remember? For the SMTOWN concert? It's okay. You're safe now."

  
Kyuhyun looks around. He's stayed in so many hotel rooms that he doesn't even notice them anymore. He takes several deep experimental breaths and starts coughing

  
Zhou Mi taps him lightly on the back. "Stay here, I'll go get you a glass of water."

  
When he returns, Kyuhyun's eyes are red and watery and he tries not to breathe. Breathing leads to coughing and his throat is already raw from the screaming. He accepts the glass of water gratefully and takes a few slow sips.

  
"Were you having a scary dream?" Zhou Mi asks, stroking Kyuhyun's back soothingly.

  
"Yes," Kyuhyun admits quietly. His heart is racing a million kilometers per hour and he can practically feel the adrenaline coursing through his system.

  
"Do you want to tell me what it was about?"

  
Kyuhyun's hands start shaking so Zhou Mi takes the half full glass of water and sets it on the nightstand by the bed so he won't spill it. “I—it—we—the…" he stutters before spitting out, "Car accident."

  
Zhou Mi folds Kyuhyun into his arms and holds him close. "Shh, you don't have to talk about it."

  
Kyuhyun leans into Zhou Mi and holds on tight. His breaths are still labored, but Zhou Mi exudes an odd aura of calm. He strokes his fingers through Kyuhyun's hair and keeps murmuring, "It's okay. You're safe now."

  
And Kyuhyun wants to believe it.

  
He clings to Zhou Mi for as long as it takes for his pulse to return to normal and his nerves to settle. Zhou Mi doesn't stop comforting.

  
*

  
The sun is nearly coming up and Zhou Mi knows they have to wake up all too soon. But Kyuhyun has just about fallen asleep for a much needed rest and Zhou Mi doesn't want to disturb him. So instead, he shifts his arms slightly and leans back against the pillows. Kyuhyun rests his head against Zhou Mi's chest and for the first time in too long, breathes a sleepy sigh of relief.

  
"Xie xie," he murmurs in his incredibly accented Chinese. Thank you.

  
Zhou Mi holds Kyuhyun tightly in his arms. "You're safe now, Kuixian. Forever.”


	2. Zhou Mi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zhou Mi has a scary dream.

Zhou Mi does not have nightmares. You would think that someone who has suffered as many horrible things as Zhou Mi has would have awful night terrors (as well as be clinically depressed), but Zhou Mi is a constant ray of sunshine and is somehow able to let all of the negativity roll off of him.  
  
Kyuhyun doesn’t know how he does it. He’s convinced that Zhou Mi has some secret outlet for all of his anger. Maybe he’s a serial killer? Maybe he steals millions of dollars from corporations? Maybe he… Except that this is Zhou Mi and the most spiteful thing Zhou Mi has ever done is crinkle up some cookies at the supermarket. Which he later felt awful about doing so he went back to the supermarket and bought the cookies and then forced himself to eat them as punishment.  
  
When good things happen, Zhou Mi’s dreams are filled with sunshine and rainbows and magic. He wakes up with stories of vivid colors and pictures that seem ridiculous but so  _real_. Zhou Mi wishes he could paint so he could capture all of the magical scenes in his head. His verbal descriptions can’t even begin to do them justice.  
  
But when not-so-good things happen, Zhou Mi doesn’t dream at all. He simply falls unconscious for a few hours and then wakes up. There are no clouds or storms or evil, just an eerie sense of nothingness. So when he wakes up in a cold sweat after a nightmare, he doesn’t know what to do.  
  
Zhou Mi jolts awake and scrambles for the light, knocking over a few things in the process. Once the room is illuminated, he still isn’t convinced that there aren’t monsters lurking in the closet, under the bed, or behind the curtains, but he’s too terrified to check by himself. He runs for the kitchen to grab a particularly heavy pot to use as a weapon, just in case. His heart is pounding in his throat and he can’t quite bring himself to breathe. “Go away!” he yells to the demons in his head. “Go away!”  
  
But there’s no one there.  
  
Zhou Mi ventures back into his room and crawls back under the covers, but there is no way he can fall back asleep. Every little sound he hears sets off alarm bells in his head until he can’t take it anymore. Zhou Mi scrambles out of bed, shoves his feet into a pair of winter boots, and pulls a warm jacket over his pajamas. He somehow manages to grab his keys and his phone and calls the last number in his recent calls.  
  
A voice that should be sounding sleepy answers. “Hello?”  
  
“Kuixian I had a terrible nightmare and I can’t sleep in my apartment anymore I’m coming over please let me in,” Zhou Mi blurts out. Except that he’s so on edge that it comes out as one massive word blob.  
  
“What?” he hears Kyuhyun rustling around on the other end of the line. “What’s wrong?”  
  
“I had a nightmare and my apartment is scary and I can’t be by myself can I come over?” Zhou Mi rephrases his question.  
  
“Hold on, I’m right by your apartment. If I grab a taxi, I can be there in five minutes,” Kyuhyun says. His voice sounds worried.  
  
“Can you hurry?” Zhou Mi asks.  
  
“I’ll try my best.”  
  
“Please don’t hang up,” Zhou Mi pleads.  
  
"I'm hurrying as fast as I can." Zhou Mi hears Kyuhyun hail a taxi and give the man the directions to Zhou Mi's apartment. "I'm almost there. Just a few minutes, okay?"  
  
"Okay," Zhou Mi replies even though he is most certainly not okay. Kyuhyun stays on the line with him and gives him a detailed update of his route. "Okay I'm three blocks away... okay now two... okay now one... okay I'm here." He hears him pay the taxi driver. "I'm going to ring your apartment so buzz me into the building, okay?"  
  
"Okay." The loud noise in Zhou Mi's apartment signaling Kyuhyun's arrival still catches him off guard.  
  
"It's just me! It's just me, remember?" Kyuhyun says, trying to make his voice sound calm. Zhou Mi's freaking out is starting to freak him out but he can't let it show. "Okay I'm in the elevator."  
  
"Kuixian, hurry."  
  
Kyuhyun's knock at the door surprises Zhou Mi too but he somehow manages to open the door. Kyuhyun drops his bag onto the floor and pulls a very terrified looking Zhou Mi into his arms. Zhou Mi is shaking and Kyuhyun can feel his rapid heartbeat. Zhou Mi clings to him like a lifeline and finally starts to cry. "I'm so so scared," he whispers.  
  
Kyuhyun maneuvers them into Zhou Mi's apartment and shuts the door behind him. Zhou Mi seems to have gotten thinner lately, and his body feels especially frail in Kyuhyun's arms. "You're okay, Mi, you're okay," he repeats soothingly.  
  
"What if they come back?" Zhou Mi asks.  
  
Kyuhyun doesn't know who "they" are but he thinks it's smart not to ask. "Then they'll have to go through me first. I'm here now. I'm here to protect you. No one can hurt you now." Kyuhyun remembers crawling into his parents' bed after having a bad dream as a child. His father would hold him close and murmur that over and over until Kyuhyun fell asleep. And now Kyuhyun is the one protecting someone else who seems so very small and helpless.  
  
Zhou Mi finally starts to calm down once Kyuhyun's body heat overcomes his cold shivers. Kyuhyun helps him out of his boots and jacket and guides him back to bed. Without saying anything, Kyuhyun strips down to his undershirt and boxer shorts and crawls into bed next to Zhou Mi. He pulls Zhou Mi close and Zhou Mi can feel the warmth of Kyuhyun's chest against his back.  
  
"Do you want me to sing you a lullaby?" Kyuhyun murmurs into his ear.  
  
"Yes," Zhou Mi whispers.  
  
" 그대 두 눈 나를 보고, 달콤하게 웃네요," Kyuhyun sings softly.  
  
Zhou Mi finally relaxes against Kyuhyun and shuts his eyes. Kyuhyun's peaceful voice is somehow able to ward off all of the demons that tore him from his slumber before.  
  
Kyuhyun doesn't stop singing until he feels Zhou Mi fall asleep.  
  
*  
  
When Zhou Mi wakes up, the sun glints through the curtains bringing the hope of a new day. He turns over to face the owner of the pale arms holding him safe. Kyuhyun is fast asleep and Zhou Mi knows nothing short of an atomic bomb will wake him up. He stares at Kyuhyun's peaceful face and thanks any powers of the universe for his existence. He brushes a stray hair off of Kyuhyun's cheek before settling back into the blankets to fall back asleep in his protector's arms. 

**Author's Note:**

> My brother has night terrors. It's terrifying for us; he doesn't even realize it.


End file.
